


The Splintered Darkness

by PromistDream



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fantasy, KakaNaru - Freeform, Kitsune, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-02
Updated: 2015-11-02
Packaged: 2018-04-29 13:16:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5128982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PromistDream/pseuds/PromistDream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Uzumaki Naruto's life could be boiled down to one word: Kyuubi. He lived and breathed for his uncle, for the rebellion. He and Kurama-ojisan are going to create a new world, better world. So, no, he's not going to listen to what this strange, grey-haired human is telling him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Splintered Darkness

**Chapter 1: The Return**

Once, when Naruto was ten, he told his uncle that he didn’t like the Return. At the time, he had only witnessed a handful every couple of weeks. His uncle always told him that it was important that he be there. But Naruto had started having nightmares. So he told his uncle that he didn’t want to see anymore. His uncle didn’t like that. So he promoted Naruto from witness to participant during the next Return. Because it was an honor to send the humans back to the earth of the realm.

Naruto spun, letting his blade sink deep into the shoulder bone of a man staring at him with wide, terrified eyes.

He jerked back, pulling his sword free. The spray of blood from the force splashed against him. The blood was still warm and Naruto had to use the sleeve of his kimono to keep it out of his eyes.

The human gripped at his bleeding shoulder, and let out a terrified yell. When he turned to run, Naruto was quick to slice at the man’s legs. The human fell to the blood-soaked dirt beneath them, and Naruto quickly dislodged his head from his shoulders with a single sweep of his blade.

Naruto stepped up to the body lying on the dusty ground. He hated it when they ran. It always made the Return last so much longer. But his audience loved it. Throngs of demons circled the arena he was in, all cheering for _more more kill more_. The cacophony was almost deafening, and it made his tail twitch in discomfort. The young kitsune did his best to ignore the chaos, and instead focus his attention on the headless body.

A delicate, silver wisp floated up from the man’s dead heart. His uncle called it soul energy. Naruto lifted his hand and directed a gust of air to surround the wisp, forcing it in to a tight ball. Once it was contained, he directed the wisp up towards the silvery mass of soul energy hanging above the Pit. It joined with the others, causing the mass to writhe before once again settling. He didn’t need to worry about keeping the mass hanging there – that was Kyuubi-sama’s job. Naruto just had to focus on collecting the soul energy. Kyuubi-sama took care of the rest.

Naruto scanned the floor of the Pit, searching for any remaining humans. He used to count how many he entered the Pit with, but, after several years of participating in the Return, he found that he didn’t like knowing how many humans he had to put down.

His blue eyes landed on a figure crouched near the outer ring of fire. Kyuubi always maintained a ring of fire along the edge of the Pit. Without it, the sunken arena would be plunged into inner darkness of the mountain fortress that hid them from the world.

He made his way towards the figure, careful to avoid the deeper puddles of blood; losing a sandal in the blood-soaked mud was never fun. He was only ever allowed to clean the blood from his skin and hair once he had been dismissed. As he stepped closer and closer, he saw that the final human was a female. She was desperately trying to figure out a way past the wall of fire and away from him. She bounced from foot to bare foot in panic, glancing between the fire and the one that hunted her.

Naruto hoped that she wouldn’t jump into the fire. Several humans had chosen that path in the past. They always screamed so loudly and Kyuubi-sama would always adjust the flames so that they would not die. It was Naruto’s job to kill the humans.

When he finally stood in front of her, Naruto tried not to look at her face. He instead stared at her stained garment. She was trying to talk to him, begging for life or something useless like that. Taking a deep breath, because this was the last one and he was almost done, swung his sword. At the last second, she let lose a shrill, screaming, _“No!”_

His sword slicing through her neck didn't stop it completely. It garbled and mixed with the blood bubbling out of the slit in her throat. Her gaping mouth slammed shut when she hit the dusty ground, and Naruto knew he would see it later in his dreams.

The wisp of her soul energy floated up and he was quick to capture it with the wind before the realm could absorb its energy. The demons that had gathered for the spectacle gave another maddening roar as he sent the final soul towards the ones collected above them.

Done. Naruto let out a small, relieved sigh. His part in the Return was done. He turned and made his way to the center of the Pit, grimacing when he stepped in a puddle of blood. Dozens of bodies littered the dusty floor, each soaking the ground with human carnage. He felt as stained as the floor looked, judging by the tears in his kimono and the blood matted in the fur of his tail. It would take at least three days to get the stench of human filth off his body.

But for now, he ignored it, and continued to step over human body parts. The demons had begun chanting _Kyuubi_ , calling for their great leader. It was a low, guttural sound that grated against his ears, and rumbled against the walls of the cavernous room. He grounded himself with it, slowing his racing heart to the beat of the word. With each inhale and exhale, he let the word thrum in him. Right now, there was only one will, one reason, one purpose for everything, and it was _Kyuubi_.

Reaching the middle, Naruto turn to face the single ledge that jutted out, above the Pit. It sat higher than the seats of the demons, towering over them all in the cavernous. On the ledge, stood his uncle, the great Kyuubi no Yoko. He sheathed his sword and dropped to one knee, bowing as he braced one fist against the soiled mud.

“Great Kyuubi-sama,” he called out, using the wind to carry his voice so that every creature in the room heard him. The chanting slowed and became silence as he continued, “The humans brought before you have been slain. The energies they stole can now be returned to their rightful owners.”

Another loud cheer erupted from the gathered demons, but Naruto kept his gaze on the dirt in front of him. His uncle would call for him to stand soon enough.

Soon, the echoes died away, and Kyuubi-sama’s voiced boomed in the hall, “Once again, my nephew has proven himself worthy to fight by our sides. Stand, dear nephew, and join me as we celebrate another victory against our enemies.”

Naruto stood, and a staircase made of fire formed before him. The cheers began once again as he climbed the steps that led him away from the carnage. The steps, though heated, did not burn him, merely licking at his heels and the edges of his torn kimono instead. His uncle held enough power to sway any of the elements, but he had always worked best with fire. He stepped onto the solid platform of rock and bowed once again before his uncle.

“Well done, Naruto-kun,” his uncle addressed him gently. “You may stand.”

Naruto lifted his head, and could not stop the rush of satisfaction at the proud smile his uncle gave him. He grinned back briefly, “Thank you, Kurama-ojisan.”

He stood and stepped into the shadows behind his uncle, carefully avoiding the older kitsune’s nine swaying tails. His part done, Naruto let his shoulders sag as his uncle stepped forward to once again address the gathered demons.

A hand from the shadows landed on his shoulder, and Naruto turned to see his childhood friend, Gaara. The redhead stared at him silently with pale green eyes, concerned but smart enough not to interrupt the speech Kyuubi-sama was giving to his army a few feet away. Naruto gave the shapeshifter a small grimace. He crossed his arms, letting the hand fall away, and turned to stare at his uncle’s nine swaying tails. He was fine.

A loud crack sounded through the cavernous arena as his uncle broke the seal of wind around the collected souls. All at once, the silvery wisps were shattered into hundred of individual slivers. Naruto watched as the demons erupted in a frenzy of chaos as his uncle directed the pieces into the crowd. They pushed and grabbing at them, all eager to consume the offered energy.

A single, unshattered soul floated to him. Automatically, the blonde wrapped it in wind, and let it float next to him, hidden in the shadows away from the demons. Soon, the chaos around the room settled as the remaining energies were consumed.

“Brothers,” his uncle’s voice boomed loudly amongst the din. “We have once again made strides against our enemies. Everyday we are joined by more and more, searching for a better cause.” His uncle paused, taking a large breath. “But there is none more righteous than ours. For centuries, we have been servants, slaves, nothing but dirt to feet of gods and humans,” his uncle spat the word.

The demons shouted angrily, demanding more blood and banging loudly against the stone beneath their feet. Naruto could feel the grin coming from his uncle as the nine tails began twitching with excitement.

“That ends now,” his uncle continued. “We are not _servants_. We are not _slaves_. We are not dirt!” The room nearly vibrated with the ensuing cheers, threatening to bring down the stone ceiling above them. “We will show the gods and humans that _we_ ,” his uncle threw out his arms and flared his tails, “do not exist for their exploits! We exist for ourselves, and we are a force to be reckoned with!”

Naruto’s tail began to twitch, and he resisted the urge to cover his sensitive ears. Doing so would be disrespectful to Kurama-ojisan. He glanced at his friend beside him, and noticed that Gaara was also affected by the uproar. Naruto subtly flicked his fingers and gathered up a small amount of wind. Keeping his eyes locked on his uncle’s back, Naruto directed the wind to create a wall around his and his friend’s ears. It effectively blocked the more shrill noises bouncing around them. He felt Gaara’s gaze but he continued to watch his uncle finish addressing the demons below them.

His uncle would probably chastise him for blocking out any of the speech, no matter that it was practically the same speech he gave every week. The younger kitsune would deal with any repercussions during training tomorrow. For now, though, he was content with the muffled sounds barely making it through the wall of wind.

Naruto watched the demons cheering and practically throwing themselves at his uncle’s feet, and decided that his uncle was made for this. His uncle was made to lead them. Naruto had been there when Kurama-ojisan first began this rebellion, and he would be there to see it end. His uncle would lead, and he would fight in the shadows by his side. That, after all, was what Naruto was born for.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! So to make a long story short, I am participating in NaNoWriMo for the first time. I'm notoriously bad about starting fictions, writing/posting the only first chapter, and then moving on to the next idea. So I'm hoping that by participating in this challenge, as well as by posting here, I will finally be able to finish something (finger's crossed!). It's not going to be pretty, but really, that's not the point of this. But I hope you enjoy anyway though! Feel free to comment and/or leave constructive criticism!


End file.
